Tips lead police to in-progress drug buy

WILLIAMSON — “We’ve been receiving complaints from the public for the past few weeks about the defendant we arrested today, and we want all those who gave us the tips to know how much we appreciate their concern for this community,” stated Williamson Police (WPD) Chief C.D. Rockel, following a drug bust that yielded 2 arrests on Thursday.

Chief Rockel and Mingo County Special Investigator Eugene Crum received an anonymous tip Thursday afternoon about an alleged drug buy that was supposed to be taking place behind a business located near the Armor Railroad crossing in Williamson, and rolled up on the scene of a delivery in progress in a matter of minutes. Rockel and Crum interrupted a sale of Hydrocodone 10 mg tablets (Lortab) and arrested the two individuals in possession of the prescription drugs.

Ronald D. Grizzel, 57, of East 7th Avenue in Williamson and Bria Samples, 27, of East Bank in Charleston, were taken into custody and charged with one count each of delivery of a Schedule III controlled substance and conspiracy to deliver. The vehicle belonging to Grizzel was impounded by the WPD and will undergo a thorough search to see if more drugs are hid inside. The investigation into this case continues and Investigator Crum stated there may possibly be more arrests in the near future.

“I cannot say enough about how much we appreciate the public’s involvement in the fight against drugs in Mingo County,” said Crum. “It’s very refreshing to know that the citizens of our county have faith in our abilities and our commitment to deter the flow of illegal prescription drugs in our communities.”

“We’ve had some negative comments made, but for every one of those that’s been expressed, we’ve had ten that are positive,” Crum remarked. “I want to make it known that negative comments are not going to hinder us, or stop us from doing our job. We’re working around the clock on these investigations and we check out each and every tip we receive.”

Chief Rockel told the Daily News that he has spoken with members of the ATF and the U.S. 119 Drug Task Force, and they have assured both he and Crum that they will provide assistance in whatever manner they can, and are more than happy to join the fight against illegal drug sales in Mingo County.

“We’re finally going to get some help, and that is very good news for those of us who are putting in a lot of hours on these cases,” said the chief. “Thankfully, we’ve had some officers who have assisted in the past few arrests and have the same goal as us, and that’s to stop the drug pipeline into our county from flowing any longer.”

The defendants were arraigned in magistrate court before Dee Sidebottom, who set bail at $200,000. They were then transported to the Southwestern Regional Jail at Holden where they remain in custody.